Reality is: I sat down maybe 45 minutes ago, but couldn’t think of what to write, so instead I followed a wormhole of Youtube for a while. Don’t judge, fam. (A) You’ve probably been there yourself and (B) I, too, deserve to unwind here and there. At least once a week.

So, then I was like, “What. DO. I. Write. About???” and I ended up searching for writing prompts and I found five hundred via the New York Times.

Next step, I wrote down three random numbers: 238, 321, and 476. I’m about to scroll to those, cross my heart, and write whatever they prompt.

Here goes nothin’:

238. What Are the Best Live Theatrical Performances You’ve Ever Seen?
OH MY GOSH. I was just re-living this one.

When I was in middle school and high school, Detroit used to host these INCREDIBLE art festivals in the museum district. EVERY. HEART. EYED. EMOJI.

Photo of an art show, from Wiki commons, says it was the Detroit Festival of the Arts, I have no reason to believe otherwise.

There were stages everywhere, with performers from around the world: dance, music, song, alllll kinds of performance art. Some years there were these theatrical ladies who would select a person from the audience, sit them in a salon chair, and completely cover their face and hair with make-up and paints, and sometimes little toys, all to some tribal drum-music, and it was recklessly fun. Sometimes there were street performers on stilts walking through the crowds–dinosaurs!!! Mythical characters! (Honestly, though, you should watch that link. It’s so cool!) One year there were dancers suspended from the top of a tall building via harnesses and they danced on the building!!! But, on the wall of the building!! Walking on the building! Dancing on the building! Speaking of dancers, there were dancers everywhere: Indian dancers, Irish dancers, belly dancers! It was a magical festival–art vendors and puppets and food–in the fall, every year, in Detroit.

(P.S. This doesn’t happen anymore, I think since the recession, and it pains me to think about a little bit).

One time, the first year I went, there was going to be a play, outside, on the large lawn of the art museum.

The play happened to be “The Twelfth Night,” which is DEFINITELY one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, and it was then, too.
AND. THEY. HAD. ACROBATS.
Did ya’ll catch that? They mixed Shakespeare with circus. And this was prior to the show even starting. This was the pre-show, when the sun was still setting, and the people were still gathering, there was a duo acrobatic act, and I GASPED THE ENTIRE TIME because I had never seen humans stretch like that! (Funny to think that this is my hobby now).
Oh, and the acrobats showed up later, too.

The director had sort of incorporated into each character, through costume and mannerism, some kind of animal. One girl was a peacock, when she wanted to flaunt it to the “man” (again, Shakespeare comedy. Mixed identity = the entire premise of the show) she loved, she’d pull these tabs on her giant skirt, and this “tail” of feathers would spread behind her.
Another man was kind of grasshopper-inspired, he’d life his knees high when showing off to the woman he loved.
There was live music! Circus! (I mentioned this already, but I needed to mention it again) and incredible costumes and acting and, oh my gosh, it was absolutely perfect.

I remember that we had stopped by the festival on a whim. It was late summer, so warm during the day. And we hadn’t eaten, and my mom bought a singular gyro for us as a snack–I think I was there with my sister, Christine, and my brother, David, and all 4 of us shared that gyro, but I took less, because I wanted them to be full, because I wanted to see that play, by golly. I think I took two bites, and I was so hungry that, to this day, I remember them as two of the best bites I have ever eaten.

I had only packed a black fleece pullover, and it got cold once the sun set. And I was sitting on the grass, in shorts and this pullover. I remember pulling my knees to my chest, under my sweater, and thinking that I might get sick the next day, because of the cold…and that I didn’t care.

I was right.
I did get sick. I got a nasty cold that lasted a few days.
But, I didn’t care then, either, because I knew the magic would last longer than the cold.

And it has.

Here I am, fifteen or twenty years later, still desperately in love with Detroit and Shakespeare and outdoor performances. ❤

321. What Do You Wish Your Teachers Knew About You?

I’m not really in school anymore, so this isn’t a great one. Sorry, random prompt-generator. I would say that: I love to learn. I want to push myself. I want to try things that you think I can do, but I think I can’t do. I want you to give me the creative-style assignments where I need to think of answers.

Also: for the love of all things holy, NO. GROUP. PROJECTS.

See how frustrated #7 gets? This is everyone who has ever been a part of a group project.

476. Do You Trust Your Government?

Eh. I mean, not exactly. I mean, I trust that our currency has worth, so I spend it. I trust that our road system is accurate and safe, so I drive on it. I trust that our FDA process has some semblance of safety, so I take medications and eat some food and what not.

My spending habits in a nutshell.

That being said, I know that the government is run by humans, and there are some humans that believe things in direct conflict with what I believe. I also think that there are well-meaning people who make mistakes, policies that are selfish, plus political palming-of-favors from “independent” agencies. So, I guess I’d also say: I’m not naive. I trust them enough to live here, but I don’t think they have all the answers, either.

BONUS QUESTION BECAUSE POLITICS ARE WEIRD:

287. When Do You Remember Learning a New Word?

I actually remember learning language as a child. I remember wanting to have words and vocabulary that I somehow knew I didn’t have. I remember asking my mom, my dad, my aunt to help me fill in the blanks for words to describe how I was feeling/ situations I was experiencing. I remember hearing words from adults and thinking, “This is a good word for me to remember for later,” and then pronouncing it, in my head, over and over and over so I wouldn’t forget, and then saying it the first opportunity I had.

Actually, I just learned a new word. Someone wrote a professional letter and they used the word “aplomb,” and I was like, “What have we here? A new word??”

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2 thoughts on “Writing exercise. Not even kidding.”

#238: If allowed, I’d like to give two answers, one professional show and one amateur.

Professional – Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Even though Donny Osmond was sick when I saw this, his understudy and the rest of the cast did an amazing job. i couldn’t wait to go home and find the passages in the bible corresponding to the show.

Amateur – A performance of part of the story, “The Little Prince” where the cast performed the play primarily in English and then use lights and other effects to make it look like they were rewinding so to redo selected portions in French.

#321: Like you, I’m not presently a student. If that were to change, though, I’d like my teachers to know i enjoy learning new things. Present new ideas in an interesting manner, and that will me interested in the subject matter.

#476: I know politics has become more and more divisive lately. Worse, it’s hard to read headlines and try to figure out what’s accurate and what isn’t (even before “fake news” become a buzzword). Furthermore, I dislike the way people appear to be focusing on every little perceived misstep our current President makes, making a mountain out of the most trifling of molehills.

That said, I trust our government at all levels from local to Federal to try to do the best it can for us–the constituents. I’m realistic enough to know that I won’t like all the decisions that get made and that some will likely impact *me personally* in a negative way, but I hope and pray that our elected officials remain mindful that they need to focus on the collective greater good when they make their decisions.

THAT “THE LITTLE PRINCE” ONE SOUNDS AMAZING. I have a favorite amateur one, too. It was done by a youth theater, a production of “The Yellow Boat,” a story about a boy who contracts HIV via a blood transfusion, deals with the seriousness of the issue, and eventually…well, I won’t tell you the end. Honestly, though, the child-actors did SO. WELL. conveying the weight of the story via props and staging–I honestly saw it one night, and came back the next night with friends….